In an age in which cynicism is so prevalent, Auburn residents might be tempted to ridicule last week's strategic planning session held by city councilors and the city manager as some type of meaningless exercise meant to make themselves look good.

But the truth is, what took place last week at the Seward House doesn't happen enough in just about any level of government. Government leaders actually sat down and discussed what their collective goals should be.

Too often, government operates solely on a day-to-day basis - or in the case of the city council, meeting-to-meeting. Officials simply go from putting out one fire to the next.

And while dealing with problems as they arise can never be neglected, the path toward progress only comes when people are thinking about the future.

Strategic planning sessions like last week's are rather common in the business world, at least among companies that are good at growing and changing.

The key with these kinds of efforts, though, is follow-through and follow-up.

Councilors and the city manager put together some targeted short- and long-term priorities, and now they need to work with city staff to implement policies aimed at addressing them. To ensure this happens, they also need to establish some timetables and make it a point to gauge the progress.

Follow-up sessions should be planned over the coming year, perhaps once every quarter, to take a look at the priorities and assess what has been achieved so far and what steps should be taken to keep the momentum going. These discussions don't have to be conducted on a special day at a special site; making them a part of a city council work session will suffice.

What's not acceptable is to allow those ideas brought out last week to be forgotten.